Crooked Smiles
by fan-nerd
Summary: Although Nami disguises their activities as a game, the crew slowly catches on as their captain and navigator are gone at the same time, and come back with similar looks on their faces.


**A/N**: A story I wrote back in 2010, under my old account, but I edited it from 12/19-12/22. Enjoy! Cover image link in profile, or at the link below without spaces or brackets.

ashthebutt . tumblr {.} com [/] post / 38594966749

* * *

_**Crooked Smiles**_

* * *

The way it had started was quiet—probably too quiet, considering who was involved, but that was of no consequence, in hindsight. But, because that was the case, the others on the ship remained oblivious to what was happening behind closed doors, just feet away from they were resting. Mischievous smiles and lecherous eyes should have given them away long before it actually had, but it was perhaps the combined effort to keep it a secret, and the crew's typically airy atmosphere. No one had taken their absences seriously—they were adults, and rightfully treated as such, so if they left the ship's deck for a few hours, that was their business.

Regardless, there were no such things as secrets on this ship for long, and as is common in many great plans, the first mistake was that the two of them had begun to get both confident and comfortable. For something so simple that it seemed silly for the others to have missed it, they could only wonder when and how, exactly, things had started.

"Hey, Luffy," A familiar voice had called the young man with the big smile and the currently bored expression exuding from his dark eyes. "Are you interested in playing a game?"

His smile parted his lips, showing all of his huge, white teeth to her, and he answered without hesitation. "Always!"

Yes—for all that the others had agonized over the roots of the curiosity, the answer had been so simple that they had overlooked it.

It had begun with a game.

* * *

The two of them had been missing for hours, leading the few on the ship to sigh exasperatedly. Robin looked up from her book, neatly placing a bookmark in its' sheets to mark her place, and joined the boys at the edge of the deck. The liar was contemplating the absolute worst conditions his crewmates may have ended up in to make them so late, formulating a grand tale to the youngest member of the pirate group, who had tears forming in his eyes, whole-heartedly believing his negative ramblings.

"What seems to be the matter, Longnose-kun? Doctor-san?" The two turned around, startled not to have noticed the ship's most levelheaded inhabitant.

"Usopp was just…saying these awful things…just because nobody's seen Nami or Luffy since this morning!" He sniffled between various words, glaring at the sharpshooter, who was apologizing for lying about such a thing. "I can smell Zoro close by…and Sanji should be okay, but—we can't leave without our Captain!"

"Or our favorite penny-pinching navigator! Chopper, you know I was just making that tale up—I'm sure Nami's hassling some old guy out of house and home right now! And you know as well as I do that Luffy could take anyone in his way out. We're probably luckier he's in town, so he messes up their shops instead of Merry. Wait. But then we'll have to fix everything! What if he's demolished it all, and created an entirely new society with the aliens already?!"

"Aliens?!" Chopper shrieked, his tears coming back with a vicious fury. "I thought you said everything was going to be just fine—I can still see houses in the distance!"

"But that's only until—" Robin interrupted them with a patient smile and a lift of her hand.

"Swordsman-san seems to have returned, you two," Her contralto voice floated through, and the green-haired former bounty hunter looked up at his mention. Continuing to speak, although to a different audience, she leaned across the wooden banister. "Have you happened to see the captain or our navigator in your return to the ship?"

"Hell no, not with the way you guys have been dodging me for the past two hours," No one bothered to correct the man with a hopeless sense of direction, telling him that he was the one who had gotten lost, and not the other way around. "Curly brow, yeah—passed him this morning some time, but he got sidetracked helping some sick family with their lunch or something. What's the problem?"

"Sanji's getting close," Chopper seemed to have recollected himself before shouting to the crew member he was probably the most comfortable with, if only because Zoro didn't ask questions, didn't care what he was, and was extremely warm. "We were just trying to make sure they weren't in any trouble, so we could head out soon!"

"Robin-_chwaaaann_," A familiar cry rang out, and they were a little more relieved to see the chef launch himself aboard, hurtling into a kneeling position in front of the dark-haired archaeologist. "Did you miss me whilst I was gone, my lady?"

"Of course," She indulged him, and he swooned, hearts in his eyes, dropping his heavy backs into the kitchen in a dash, before returning with a glass of some fancy drink or another for her. He continued to brief her on its' contents of fresh fruits from this island, a carbonated, clear beverage for texture, and discuss her beauty in his eyes. "Thank you, Cook-san." He practically melted in a puddle behind her, before Usopp muttered something nasty under his breath, and Chopper snickered in response. "Now that everyone but those two have returned, what do you suppose we should do? Go look for them?"

"Robin-chan! You should just leave dirty work like that up to that stupid muscle-head down there," Sanji nodded to the green-haired man on the ground in front of the ship, who glared up at him in return. He seemed to rethink his decision just a moment after saying the words. "On second thought, never mind. He'd probably never make it back by himself."

"Come down here and say that to my face, if you're itchin' for a fight!" Zoro snarled back, and Sanji growled, one foot on the banister, preparing to do just that.

Robin lifted a hand and smiled that usual smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was getting there – slowly, anyhow. "Don't despair yourself over it. I've rested quite enough this afternoon, so I'll go with Swordsman-san to look for those two."

"If you say so, Robin-chan! Oy, moss-head! If you harm one little hair on Robin-chan's head, I swear to whatever heretic you worship, I'll make life miserable for you!"

"Oh, shut up," Zoro murmured, actually quite pleased with these arrangements. Robin was quiet, minded her business, and never tried to wheedle money out of him or start fights up every other minute. He still was pretty wary about her, considering he felt that she was still hiding something more, but as time went on, he was becoming accustomed to her and her ways. All that considered, it was a nice change from his obnoxious, loyal but stupid captain, the she-witch with the money grubbing fingers, the liar with tales longer than even his nose, and cook determined to make every part of his day a tiresome experience. He didn't want to be anywhere else, _with_ anyone else, however, so he took all of these things with a grain of salt. Or, more accurately, a whole handful of the stuff.

Robin spoke only when she knew they were going the wrong direction, but for the most part, she kept her eyes peeled, and ears open, ready to fight if the need arose. After around twenty to thirty minutes of searching that yielding no results, she finally spoke to her companion. "Are you concerned about the two of them?"

The swordsman shook his head, which caused his three identical earrings to jangle against his tan skin. "Luffy? Hell no. Nami? I wouldn't call it concern—she's probably gotten caught in one of her schemes, and in that case, she's got whatever's comin' to her." Even as he said the words, the worry came across in his scathing tone. Nami could handle herself, but if things got a little bit too much out of control, there was no guarantee that she could make it back to the ship unscathed. "My money's on Luffy finding her before we do, and she'll probably be screaming about something or another. Isn't she always?"

Robin couldn't help the small chuckle at the truth in the statement, even though she knew the navigator's screams were typically validated by whatever absurdity was occurring aboard the Going Merry.

As if a higher power had noted Zoro's words and proceeded to put truth in them, a blur of red and blue dashed by, carrying Nami over his shoulder, a trail of loud laughter and a piercing shriek followed by a cloud of exhausted people whom had probably been eaten out of their reserves and stolen from dashed by. Luffy seemed to double take upon seeing the two, and grabbed them just the same, before stretching some more, and launching himself onto the ship. Their captain was laughing, even as Nami punched him; Zoro scowled, and Robin quietly dusted herself off aboard the ship before their captain ordered them to start sailing at once, despite the descending sun, in order to avoid the natives' outrage.

Sanji checked to see if Nami was okay before chewing their captain out for dragging her into his mess, and Zoro bit back that the whole issue had probably been the tangerine-haired navigator's fault in the first place. They brawled briefly before said navigator began barking out instructions to get them offshore as quickly as possible.

After they could no longer hear the people's shouts, everyone relaxed and calmed down, waiting impatiently for the next twenty, thirty minutes to pass—the time Sanji had allowed himself to cook dinner. They ate as rambunctiously as always, and even though Robin had questions, she knew better than to concern herself with them while the crew was dining. It was a dangerous endeavor in the best of times. So, instead, she would simply wait until the opportunity to use her powers to her advantage rose. As it turned out, there would be many hours before she and the other young woman decided to retire, and then the curvaceous cartographer tiptoed out of their shared space with an extra ear following throughout the woodwork of Merry.

When the gentle footsteps of the young woman with the bob faded to a stop, she tuned her senses and paid close attention, only to hear a rap at a door—couldn't be the boys' quarters, far too quiet—and the door's hinges softly opening to let her in, and the familiar laughter of her captain. The wallop of one of her punches was obvious as the dark-haired, red-and-blue-clad young man winced in pain.

"I guess I should be proud you've even been doing this well, but what part about the whole 'sneaking' piece of our agreement did you miss?" She sighed restlessly, falling onto something that must have been at least halfway comfortable. "When you were trying to leave that mark at the restaurant, while we were sitting right at the bar—_not_ to mention when I was pickpocketing that lovely rich old man—I thought I was gonna jump through the ceiling. We're sneaking from _everyone_, not just our friends."

"That's dumb, and that's not what you said when you told me the rules," The captain pointed out smartly. "'Sides, nobody's even asked about what happened. So it's fine, right?"

Nami sighed softly. She eventually startled to laugh a little bit, finding everything just absolutely ridiculous right now. "I guess you're right." The noise of the captain falling was shortly followed by breathless movements, and the telltale signs of lips meeting—shuddering breathing, the wet sound of mouths coming together—told Robin that her spying would soon come to an end. She'd gotten all the answers she wanted anyways.

Well, save one. The archaeologist had no idea why they were marking each other, nor why the other woman had found it so imperative to keep such a thing a secret, but that was none of her business, and she had no intentions of telling anyone else.

Smiling softly, Robin turned over and let the gentle lull of the ship take her to sleep. Things certainly were always interesting aboard this ship.

* * *

The captain who was just as childish as he was lethal scowled and scratched his head a bit, shuffling his hat and mussing his already messy locks. "So, what're the rules? If you liked games, you should've been playing with Usopp and Chopper and me when we hang out on the top of the ship!"

She slapped him in a gently reprimanding way, rushing the next few words together in a mix of frustration and restless anticipation. "It's not that kind of game—and if you'd just give me a minute, I'd get to that part."

Dark locks fell across his forehead as he stood up suddenly, tapping his bare feet against the wooden flat in a room they typically used for storage, which was unusually empty today. There were some things he didn't recognize in here—a discarded, large couch, and some jewels that Nami had probably lifted in their last stop to an island, and some other comforts that could not fit in their living quarters. "If you say so," He mused, taking in the surroundings for a moment before folding his arms across his chest lazily, and turning his gaze back to the navigator.

She looked almost nervous, which confused him, but he didn't have much time to dwell on that, because the anxious glint in her eyes turned to something else shortly; something he couldn't quite define. Somehow, she knew she had his full attention, and for some reason, this fact startled her. His eyes were dark, and gleamed in the dim lighting from the two clouded awning windows in this place.

Swallowing her saliva, she managed a strange sort of smirk, despite the sweating of her palms.

* * *

The drowsy swordsman prided himself on his ability to read his captain, but this was more so because of their surprisingly similar thinking processes than anything else. A strong will to survive, fighting instincts, the reckless abandon with which they cast away respect and pride if the need arose, even though they were both pretentious. Because that was the case, they had a strange capability to understand one another without words, and this included exchanging looks, and even the tingling sensation that said something was wrong with the other. Luffy's senses were stronger than his own on that point, and he seemed to be able to sense when anything was wrong with any of them, but Zoro, at least, was able to divine the problems with common sense and his silent communications with the bizarre rubber-man.

He had a feeling that something had been going on for a few weeks. Luffy's eyes glinted in a way that was between dangerous and good-humored, and there was some time they had connected without thinking, and the swordsman shuddered. But it didn't seem harmful, so the green-haired man didn't press the issue. Just a few days after the scene had occurred, the incident in which Nami and Luffy had taken longer to get back to the ship than usual arose his suspicions, but when the captain sort of gave him this sideways glance, he dropped it.

So for the next few weeks, he simply didn't think about it. Besides, there were plenty of things _to_ think about instead, as he trained, the swing of his weights and the sound of sweat hitting the deck as familiar to him as chanting sutras was to fervent Buddhist monks. Occasionally, he recalled the few quotes and scriptures that he'd picked up over time, but the only one he found relevant, as he dismissed religion, choosing to believe in fate and his own hands instead, was one he recited often in his mind. _It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell._

When the nasally, shrill voice of their sharpshooter cried loudly that there was land just a short ways in the distance, he finished the ten-thousandth push up for the left hand, and wiped his sweat with the back of his right forearm. The sun glared in his dark eyes, and he sighed a bit. Summer islands weren't altogether unpleasant, but the temperature was always too uncomfortable to drink outside, until the sun was a little lower in the sky. Nami came out and said they would probably be there in a few hours, and for no one to bother her while she finished the map of the place.

They arrived with no problem, and were warned by the orange-haired navigator to avoid making trouble, or she would make their lives a living hell. Zoro grumbled that she already did that, and she shot him a glare that almost sent chills down his spine. This time, everyone was out and about, and the green-haired swordsman had become lost almost immediately after taking his eyes off of the ship's short doctor and the sharpshooter. He wandered through the forest aimlessly for a couple hours, and spotted a place with smoke billowing from the chimney. His steps were swift as he miraculously made it back to town, although the house with the smoke pouring from the top was nowhere to be found. Spotting a bar nearby, he stepped inside, tossing his dark glance to the sun—everyone had agreed to be ready to leave tomorrow morning, and he'd be back long before then even if he drank for the next three hours. Checking his pocket for the money he'd been allotted by the ship's cartographer and finance director, he grinned. It was times like this that he appreciated the girl—she knew how to have a good night, and had a taste for good booze.

Usopp and Chopper had stopped in at some point near the beginning of his dining and drinking fest, and upon their discovery, were relieved. The swordsman was difficult to find in broad daylight, and the sun was setting, albeit slowly. He promised them—half-heartedly, but a promise was a promise—that he would stay there for the rest of the evening, and if he wasn't back by sunrise, to come find him at this bar. They seemed wary to agree, but did anyhow, and left shortly after coming in.

Zoro, just when night had begun to set in here on this island, was becoming full of drink and vittles, and thus paid his running tab to the barman, and began his journey back to the Going Merry. Sighing contentedly, his boots rapped against the dirt in a steady rhythm. The street was noisy with townsfolk going about their nightlives, and his eyes caught more than a few giggling couples ducking in and out of corners in the dark.

He found the ocean with surprising promptness, for himself. Just before scoping the waters for their jolly roger, his ears caught familiar voices. Squinting towards them, he found two figures shrouded by lamplight, and he stepped backwards to be out of their field of vision, listening for a moment. That laugh was unmistakable.

"Gotcha," The boyish voice of his captain taunted, and the huff of the one he was almost sure was the money-mongering cartographer. Her voice was breathless, as Luffy seemed to do something that brought some sort of pleased-but-pained noise from her throat. She seemed to want to scold him, but her mouth was covered with his sloppily, and it didn't look like this was foreign to her.

Their hands started disappearing under clothes, and Zoro felt warm, figuring that it was better to get the hell out of here before he saw something he couldn't un-see. He decided to train, despite the time of day, to take his mind off of the scene, but was reminded of it again when Luffy and Nami returned, the former grinning his head off, and shooting him a look like he knew exactly what Zoro had stumbled past in his return to the ship.

"Nami, were you wearing that earlier?" Usopp had pointed out observantly, and the swordsman wished that he could've slapped him, so instead he shot him a sharp glance, hoping that would keep his prying from going any further. He visibly shuddered and began to sweat, understanding, but it was too late to take the question back.

"Spilled something on the other one," She responded, but her reddened ears betrayed the truth of the situation—Luffy had left a mark somewhere noticeable, so she'd been forced to change. Zoro closed his eyes again, and held back a sigh.

Robin chuckled lowly from somewhere nearby, and he absently remarked that she must've noticed just the same.

* * *

"It's simple," She purred, her voice coy and teasing. Slowly, she stood next to him, his hatless head just a bit above hers, as they were close in height. Taking his hands in her own to his confusion, she placed his calloused fingers on her hips, and got even closer to him. All the while, he stared, curious. Just as he was about to say something, she pushed her nose against his neck, and bit into his shoulder, just above his collarbone.

"Ouch!" He yelped, jerking to bring his arm up to the affected area, glaring at her a bit. "What'd you do that for? That kind of hurt, Nami!"

The tangerine-loving young woman smirked all over again. "It's part of the _game_. I didn't mean for it to hurt that bad. It's supposed to feel good." She tried again, sucking at his skin a little more slowly, until his scowl let up, and she swirled her tongue around it, reddened skin looking a little less lacerated and more flushed than anything else. Heat rose in both of her faces and he spoke again.

"How s'at a game?" He asked, but his voice sounded kind of far away, eyes a little unfocused, but still on her face as she spoke. Slipping out of his grip, she went around his back and tried again, getting a little noise and a shocked glance out of her captain. "It's…weird."

"The goal is to leave one of these on me when you feel like no one will catch you doing it." This prospect seemed to perk him up. "That weird feeling? It's because it feels good. Don't worry—I'll take care of it."

Luffy made a noise resembling a squeak, but it was much deeper, as she began to undo the clasps on his shorts. "And you're _sure_ they won't notice if…we're…missing?" It was hard to form words, but he was determined to beat at her at her own game.

"Just shoot for every week or so. Maybe twice. But remember—we _can't_ get caught."

A grin broke out on his face as she went lower, pressing her lips just at the hem of his shorts, and he agreed.

* * *

Their game had been going on for quite some time, but it was becoming harder and harder to notice the two of them sneaking off. Whether that was because they were becoming more proficient at sneaking, or whether they had taken a break for some time because they had become quite swamped, between fighting the world government, the marines, and winding up having their shadows stolen and then fighting to get them returned, the two of them were getting sloppy again.

The ship had gained two new members already, in the time since their game had paused, after their journey to the sky. Months, seasons, and weather had changed more than once already, and things were quiet—probably a cause for concern, on this ship in particular. Zoro and Robin thought nothing of it, and regardless of whether the others—Usopp, Chopper, or Sanji—had noticed anything between their navigator and captain before, they were bound to catch on now.

As it was, their newest, but also oldest, member, had picked up on their activities almost at once, but his was a more glaring example, and a chance happening more than anything else. It was their fault just the same, however; they were out on the deck when he'd stumbled upon them. He'd been on watch on the ship this evening, expecting the yellow vest of their leader's visage on the lion's head of the Sunny in his empty eye sockets. But he hadn't been expecting to hear a quiet, but heated discussion taking place just a few meters from his position a deck above them.

"I know I said I was fine just keeping it as a game this whole time, but it's gone on too long," The orange-haired, callow mate had downcast brown eyes, and although she looked on the verge of either screaming or crying (or perhaps both), their captain seemed to be glaring at her from under the brim of his hat.

"I don't understand, so explain," His voice was harsh and he exuded that same sort of annoyance that he typically reserved for his enemies, so Brook imagined the situation between them to be quite serious. The skeleton would continue to wait patiently anyways, generating his own opinions on the matter via personal speculation.

The female laughed bitterly, and she clenched her fists so tightly that their careless voyeur was concerned for her palms' condition. "I guess I should've expected this." Her dark eyes flicked up into his, looking just as intense as he was. "Did you ever really care about me at all, this whole time? Or were you just playing along?"

"That's a stupid question—of course I care," He was seething, but not yelling; a feat in and of itself, but it seemed that Nami's presence had trained his tone, if only for the next few minutes.

"I'm not asking if you _care_ about me—you care about _everyone_ on this ship, Luffy! I know that more than anyone. I'm asking if—" She seemed to halt, choking on the words, avoiding his insistent stare. "If you, y'know." Looking back at him, she finished. "I want to know if this is more than just a _game_ to you. 'Cause if it's not, it's finished, and I never want to talk about it again."

He muttered something too quietly for the skeleton or the navigator to hear, but then his arm snapped out, causing her to gasp, and he pulled her close, connecting their lips and bodies. "I'm serious," He kept glaring intently into her eyes, the brown orbs glistening with barely repressed emotions. "I don't really get that kind of thing, but I sure as hell know I've never played _any_ game this long. Besides, I'm _always_ serious."

Nami sighed, then laughed a little bit, and then started giggling fervently. "Right. Of course." After another moment, another kiss, she started speaking again. "But you wouldn't play with anyone else, right?"

Luffy stuck out his tongue and seemed displeased. "And listen to the rules all over again? Ick. No thanks." She giggled again. "So it's okay now?"

"It's gonna be okay—not _here_, Luffy, someone might see us. Who's s'posed to be on duty?"

"How should I know," He responded, irresponsible as always, and their voices faded into darkness. The skeleton hiding in the shadows seemed oddly bemused after having caught the whole scene.

He'd forgotten if he knew any love ballads from East Blue, he absently wondered if he could find one that would please his new crew, but not alarm them that he knew what had transpired this evening.

* * *

His thin, lithe form lie on the mattress-sofa, stretched out and half clothed, when a pair of peach-colored lips had come to his back moments later, rousing a series of giggles from his lips. "That tickles," Luffy told her, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight coming in from the awning of their new storage room in the Sunny. The cat burglar purred and smiled dangerously up at him as his head whipped around to see what she was up to.

"This is payback for the last time," Nami replied, but it came out in a rush of syllables, as she was busy pressing a trail of butterfly kisses up his spine. He laughed less and less as she went up, and eventually stopped laughing altogether as her breasts pushed into his bare skin, and her hands came to his chest, arms circling around his backside. Slim, girlish fingers traced the outline of his abs, and her mouth closed around his left ear as she lie there, her captain's breath hiking as her nibble became more than playful. His rubber arms shortly came around and tickled her off until he was crouched atop her just before he flopped on her chest, his hands stopping around her waist and in her hair.

He continued to suck at her neck, and she groaned happily, still making some semblance of conversation, for now. "Hey, Luffy," Nami loved having her hair played with, and he was still clumsy at taking off her shorts, she thought. "You ever regret anything?"

"Never," He musters that word out between her breasts, and she eeps as his tongue swirls around one of her nipples. She tries not to let herself sink into the pleasing sensation just yet—there's something she wants to say, but it's not coming out just right.

"Kiss…my shoulder?" She manages that breathlessly, her smile an attempt to be confident, but it is wobbly and unsure, and he sees that, and although he does not know why she's still worried, he lifts his head from what he was doing previous, and heeds her query. His tongue and teeth linger on sensitive skin, and after a few moments, he asks her lowly if it's okay, so she answers, "Yes, it was perfect. Now, back to work," And with that command, he finishes shimmying her shorts down, and the wet noise of his tongue dipping into her navel and then down to her lower quarters takes the rest of her rational thought away, and she lets it go happily.

* * *

It's a beautiful day near a Winter Island, and although it is autumn there, the reindeer cannot be more pleased. The weather is pleasant to him, and he cannot wait to visit the place's libraries and apothecaries for more research tools and medicinal herbs. He and Robin decide to make a quick stop, because they are the only two in desire of some kind of supply this time. They had overstocked the last time, and Franky and Brook had gotten tangled up in two separate schemes, much to Nami's exasperation. Nami allotted them so much money for their things, and so much time, which left everyone else back on the Sunny to wait, but it was nearly useless to kept Luffy pinned down, and the orange-haired cartographer quite honestly didn't feel like trying. Instead, she volunteered to keep an eye on him, which no one found strange, and they agreed to meet back up in two hours.

Chopper had finished just before Robin, and on his way back to his and Nami's designated meeting spot, he caught her sitting by herself, looking at their childish captain as he arm-wrestled some men in a bar for a little extra pocket change. He quickly discovered a small laceration on her forearm, and it was red and aggravated, so he became concerned. "Nami, what happened?" The reindeer-human asked with furrowed brows, knowing his crew's tendency to hide injuries until they were far beyond the point of nicks and bruises, but instead were full-blown holes in their guts and broken bones.

She searched for what he was looking at briefly, and her gaze quickly became stormy, just before she managed to lighten it for their small doctor. "It's nothing to worry about, Chopper! Just a little bite. It wasn't even from something poisonous."

He felt panicked, knowing her medical history, and proneness to illness. "You're sure? I can have a look at you when we get back to ship, and get you rested up and everything."

A cool hand came atop his hat, and he looked up. Gentle blue eyes and a reassuring smile made him feel a little better, but he was still worried. "Navigator-san will be alright, Doctor-san. I witnessed the bite, and I promise that it was nothing harmless." Suddenly all his worry dissipated, and he sighed in relief, smiling at Nami.

"If you say so. Be more careful next time, okay, Nami?" His big eyes gazed at her, and she laughed, happy for his concern, but frustrated with the cause of her questioning. "Are you headed back to the ship?"

"I'll be right behind you two—I've got to go give this moron an earful." The redhead stomped off to grab her captain by the ear and separate him from a table full of food, all the while complaining about his inability to leave a mark where it might be seen in broad daylight, and, _"What part_ of the crew can't find out did you misunderstand the first hundred times I told you?! You were _doing so well_."

During their walk back to the ship, Chopper simply seemed to be bombarding the archaeologist with questions. "Why was Nami so hesitant to talk to me about the bite? I just wanted to make sure she was going to be alright?"

"Just think of it in the way of mating, Doctor-san," Robin said, drawing a blush from the boy's fuzzy cheeks. "If you were doing something embarrassing with your mate, you wouldn't want everyone on the ship to know about it, would you?"

"No, no, no—never!" He flushed ten times darker than his light brown fur, and Robin giggled.

"Perhaps if you pay attention to Navigator-san and the Captain, you'll understand more. If not, maybe that lesson will have to wait until you a little bit older." She patted him lovingly, and Chopper felt the flush ebbing away, but the teasing lingered.

Determined to heed her words, Chopper focused on the two of them more than ever, but his answer, or the closest he would get to one, came in the form of Luffy emerging from some place on the ship days later, reeking heavily of Nami's scent, just moments before he hopped in his first shower of the week, hating the water the whole time. Emerging clean, with dark hair clinging to his face, he grinned at the reindeer. "Time to eat!" He told the sometimes-shortest member of his crew before throwing his yellow vest and red shorts on and leaping up to the kitchen.

Flushing from his cheeks up to his ears, he shook his various thoughts from his head, and followed behind him, urging the heat from his head as quickly as possible, and resisting the urge to flush again as Robin shot him a look from across the dinner table.

* * *

She was certainly taking her time today, stripping languidly. Her bikini top was patterned and fell with a short rustle, releasing her pale breasts. Her audience of one seemed to grow impatient with her pace as she slipped her skirt off to reveal a thong, and he had discarded his vest already, fingering the flimsy cloth of her underwear before caressing the skin of her buttocks. "No fair," Nami told him, swatting his hand away from her entrance to turn around and remove his shorts first, knowing well that he hardly ever bothered with undergarments. Touching him before he could touch her, she rolled her fingers fluidly underneath his length, causing him to squirm and his face to heat up.

"Now who's not playing fair," Luffy breathed heavily before sinking his teeth into the area just next to her breasts and before her back, and weaving one hand into her hair. After she'd started getting him wet, he plunged a couple fingers into her, and she had trouble continuing to kneel in such a position as they searched. "Tell me if you want me to stop."

"Did you bring condoms?" Nami asked softly, and he nodded, his nose still pressed against her side. "Then I don't plan to."

"Good," The dark-haired young man pushed her softly to her side, and reached for a condom deep in the recesses of his shorts-pockets, even though he'd taken them off already. She rolled it on for him before kissing him deeply, saliva and air passing between them as they grasped at each other's scar-crossed skin and messy locks. Her mouth opened in a strange sort of not-scream as he entered her, but after they began to find a rhythm, she settled into a long moan of his name.

Neither of them knew at what point their game had become this messy.

* * *

Their resident chef was no idiot.

There was no way, with the way he paid attention to women, that he hadn't noticed something different about the way Nami glowed since they had departed from Skypeia ages ago. Of course, his lovely Nami-san always glowed, no matter how harsh she was, and he loved that about her, just as he loved Robin-chan's cool beauty.

Despite his nagging sense that he was missing something, he decided that it was not life threatening, and thus was no cause for his concern. So, he went about his daily business, showering the girls with his affections, giving them snacks and food first, and fighting the boys out of the kitchen with an iron foot.

Often, he dreamed of a perfect world, where the girls showed him as much affection as he attempted to show them, as for why they were absolutely stunning, and gorgeous, and just so much better than those brainless Neanderthals that they called crewmates. However, this evening, when he had gone to bed shortly after their last of five or six meals and three snacks, he had a nightmare of the highest caliber. One in which Robin hung off of the arm of some man he did not recognize, and Nami and their rubber captain smiled at each other like textbook, fairytale lovers.

Waking from the experience in a cold sweat, he wiped his brow and tried to forget that the whole thing had happened. He took an aspirin, switched with Chopper for watch, and mentally planned out what he would make today.

Since departing from Thriller Bark, everyone had come upon a newfound appreciation for life, and thus a renewed urgency for food and company. With this being the case, Sanji was worked more than ever to provide them with all the right meals and nutrition, because most of them ate enough for three people, or more. Not to mention, they had more mouths to feed. As the sun rose, he headed for the kitchen, and began making breakfast. Robin was generally the first to wake, and she roused the rest of the crew after getting a cup of coffee, which the blonde had generously prepared just the way she liked it, steaming hot for her as she came down. The first meal of the day was rowdy, as per usual, and so was the second, and the first snack of the day. The second snack-time was suspiciously quiet, as Usopp and Chopper stopped in, but their notoriously obnoxious third member was absent.

"Where's Luffy?" The chain smoker questioned, lighting a cigarette after finishing their plates and handing them to the two.

"Taking a nap, maybe?" Usopp responded with a question and a shrug. "Haven't seen him on the figurehead in a few hours."

"Haven't seen Nami either, but she said she was busy," Chopper slurped at his soup happily, practically beaming. "What's this one—it's delicious!"

"Lobster and sea-king bisque. I got the fresh ingredients for a steal the last time we stopped." Sanji answered him with a little smile, proud of his work. The liar and sharpshooter nodded in agreement, but he still felt something off, mostly because their greedy captain wasn't there. "Hey, if someone drops by, tell them I'll be back in a bit."

"Alright," They both replied.

He checked the deck first, even looking up to the crow's nest, where the stupid swordsman was swinging his weights around, the sound muffled by the glass. The click of his loafers against the hull roused the shipwright as he headed downstairs, who called out to him as he went passed, so the blonde waved. Peeking in the men's quarters to find the room empty, the chef ran a hand through his hair checked across the hall in the aquarium before shaking his head and going down another flight. Where on earth was the idiot?

The basement held no more answers—he wasn't in Franky's room, nor in Usopp's. But he did hear _something_, from one of the rooms with no placard. And the noises in there? Now _those_ were downright suspicious. Pressing an ear close to the door first, afraid of what he might find, he heard a familiar voice.

"_Yessss. Faster. To the right a little biiii—ahhhhh," _Moans and gasps followed shortly, and Sanji found himself more than flushed. Despite all his fuss, he was still a virgin of the highest order, as he'd always been surrounded by men, and never more popular than simply surface interest of the opposite sex. Deeply curious, even though he knew it was wrong, he wondered who could've been pleasuring Nami in such a way. It was possible that she'd brought a stranger aboard…but that seemed unlikely.

Zoro, he'd glimpsed in the crow's nest earlier, and he'd passed Franky, Usopp, and Chopper in his search for…his thoughts trailed off, and dread dawned on his face. Scrambling for some sort of visage into the room, he caught a chip in the wood that was larger than a simple peephole, hoping that what he saw would do away with his dread.

It didn't. _I can't even believe this._

"_Luffy, Luffy—_" She cried, lust and climax rising evident in her voice, Sanji tried to will what he knew was erection rising away, and tried to force himself away from the scene violently. He eventually pushed himself up and out of there quietly, and made more food than he'd made for any all week, if only to take his mind off of things, anger with their captain burning behind his eyes, but somewhere inside himself, he was happy for them, but it was buried beneath all his current frustrations.

When Luffy finally did come up for air, looking too pleased for his own good, he practically stabbed a fork into his hand, and seethed. "I'm in a bad mood, so you better not waste anything."

"Seriously?!" His eyes lit up like he'd hit the lottery, and he practically dived into the food face-first. "I was just getting hungrier than ever, too! Sanji, you're the best."

Approaching Nami delicately, he'd taken care to give her foods that were good for aches and pains, in addition to all her regular dinner foods. "Make sure to take proper care of her body," He warned obliquely, and she blinked up before smiling.

"Thanks, I will."

* * *

He hovered over her, breathing unsteady, and gaze more focused on her than ever. Dark hair hung in his face, and she absently reached up to play with it, as it tickled her nose.

Starting with regular kisses, he slowly descended, and started treading her lower quarters with his tongue with her guidance. "No, you have to go deeper—a little lower, and to the leffff—right there, Luffy, keep doing it just like that," She figured that it couldn't be too pleasant for him, but he wasn't complaining, _fuck_, it felt so good. Wishing she had thought of this sooner, Nami felt the edge of a orgasm rise a few minutes later, and willed it away, not wanting to cum in his mouth. "Stop for now. That was great."

"You taste weird. Not bad-weird," He disclosed this information so matter-of-factly that the girl couldn't help but laugh.

They swapped, and she told him to lie back, wanting to reciprocate. "Don't worry, you taste good-weird too." But when she sucked him off, her only warning was his surprised yelp, so she took her mouth off and let him shoot his cum over something that resembled sheets.

* * *

Franky wasn't overly ignorant, but he wasn't overly observant either. Honestly, he hadn't even noticed much different amongst the crew he'd joined not long ago until laundry day had rolled around.

He'd been lounging around the lawn deck when the captain bounded by, Usopp and Chopper in his wake, but the other two went somewhere after the young man with the straw-hat stopped in front of the line for longer than a minute.

"What's'matter, Straw-hat?" The blue-haired cyborg asked lightly, and black eyes went from the fabrics, to the baskets, and to his crewmate.

"Just sortin' stuff. M'not usually s'posed to do chores because I mess 'em up, but Nami asked me to this time. I was bored anyways."

He blinked curiously, a little taken aback. "You know whose is whose?"

Grinning his thousand-watt smile, Luffy held up a flimsy piece of fabric that might have ashamed Franky, were he not such a pervert himself. "Well, I know most of Nami's stuff anyways." With that, he turned his heel with a basket full of clothes that belonged to the navigator, and disappeared to the floor below, where the women's quarters were.

Shrugging it off, the man decided that it was just one more thing to get used to.

* * *

Luffy was lying against Nami's stomach, her hands threading in and out of his hair, while his hands were busy playing with some puzzle or another Franky had given him. She huffed out against his crown, speaking quietly, but not altogether secretly. "So," Nami began, pulling up a dark tuft of oily, but soft, hair. "Do you think they know?"

The captain seemed to genuinely think about this for a while, humming and eventually saying, "Probably. They're not dumb, those guys."

The redhead sighed in agreement. "You're right. I guess I always figured things wouldn't be a secret for very long, after all. I'm surprised everyone's kept quiet."

"Especially Sanji," Luffy laughed for a time, the movement of his head against her making her laugh too. "I thought he was gonna kill me my sleep a few times."

"I know Robin's known forever. Zoro's slow but…I'd be willing to bet he knows. He can read you like a book for some reason. Chopper caught on, because I remember when it happened." Thinking back to the day, she threw her head back, and lightly punched Luffy in the arm. "How humiliating."

"I think Brook might know. He asked me what kind of lovey-dovey stuff they had back at Fuchsia, but I definitely don't remember."

"Franky saw you bring me all my underwear, too," Nami chided lightly.

"So then…Usopp?" Luffy offered in the form of a question, frowning in thought just a bit. "I feel like he doesn't know…but he's such a good liar…it's hard!"

"There's no way," The navigator waved the prospect off. "I don't even think he could've hid it that well for that long. But then, I guess we'll know soon enough."

"You're sure about telling them?" His dark gaze captured hers, and she smiled.

"I'm sure." She placed a soft, quick kiss against his nose before sharing a long, breathless one with him, albeit upside down.

* * *

When they told them that they were together officially—no more sneaking, and the opportunity to discuss things, at least whilst they were upon the Thousand Sunny, everyone cheered, except Sanji, and Nami cornered Usopp about the issue later.

"So, how'd long you know, anyways? You didn't look particularly surprised."

He scratched his head and laughed a bit. "Honestly? From the very start. I've seen the way you look at him. Luffy's hard to read, and I don't really get him, but your look?" He seemed far away, like he was thinking of something—or rather, some_one_ else as he spoke. "Yeah, I know that look."

Nami remembered with a start that he had a child sweetheart, and an eventually reciprocated crush no less, back home. Patting him on the shoulder, she smiled.

After the disturbing brawl that was the fifth meal of the day, their second dinner, Luffy and Nami met curled against the gentle breeze of the ocean on the figurehead lion. They sat in silence for some time before the captain spoke. "This is better," He said, and she agreed with a nod.

It had long since ceased being a game of hiding, after all.


End file.
